Cynicism
by limeRIDDLE
Summary: "Sweetness, over time, will become rotten," the old lady said. "But cynicism is already rotten, and will only continue rotting." Ino and Sasuke. Rated just in case.
1. Chapter 1

"You better not make me cry," Ino laughed at a relationship that was already beginning to end in tears.

"Don't worry," he promised. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

Lies. She smiled and gave him her heart, knowing full well that he didn't want it. He wanted what she could give him, the things that she could offer, he wanted what she could provide and no one else could.

But he didn't want her.

The less she talked, the better.

But, at this point, any sort of relationship would be nice. Any sort of caring would be appreciated. Any sort of anything would be accepted.

"I have to go on my mission, I'll be back soon," he said. He smiled, because that was the one thing he could give her. "You'll wait for me, right?"

"Of course," she said, smiling too. "Promise you won't get hurt or anything?"

"I promise," he said.

Gently, he leaned over her, pressing his lips against hers. That kiss was promising so much more to Ino than it was to him.

He left.

Turned around and didn't look back once.

"I know that you're no Sakura, but I never thought that you would be stupid enough to believe a bunch of shit like that."

"Of course," she said, smiling stiffly, "The ever-so-charming Uchiha Sasuke." She paused, "Where would we be without your wise words of wisdom and brave sense of right and wrong?"

The still handsome Uchiha leaned against a wall, cast in shadow. To tell the truth, he still seemed to shine with radiance and unfairly good looks. Time would never do anything to change the way that Sasuke was the best-looking guy in the village.

And then there was the fact that he was the best looking _single_ guy in the village.

"It's just common sense," he said, completely uncaring of the havoc he was wreaking on Ino's already frayed heart. "The guy is a dick."

"Have I mentioned how much more eloquent you've become since Naruto kicked your ass and you've graced Konoha with your loyalty again?" Ino muttered, "Not that it's going to last long."

"Naruto did not kick my ass," Sasuke declared. "In fact his foot was no where near my ass during the last time we fought. Which, might I add, I distinctly remember you crying the whole time."

"Good Lord," Ino said, shaking her head. "And too think that a few years ago I wished that you had talked more."

"A few years ago I was convinced that the most pathetic female in the universe was Sakura. But even she's gotten over typical assholes who will only end up hurting her." He looked at her pointedly.

She stuck her nose up in the air. "You just called yourself an asshole."

"But," Sasuke continued, pretending that he hadn't heard Ino. "I know now that you are in fact the most pathetic female in the world. Congratulations."

"I'm sorry, there is only one Naruto," she said, rolling her eyes. "If there were more than one of that guy, I swear, I'd marry him before anyone could think twice."

"Naruto's already won the most pathetic male award. The dumb ass never got over Sakura."

"I think it's sweet."

"And you're dating someone with the personality of a rock. Are rocks sweet too?"

"And this is coming from Mr. Personality, isn't it?"

She turned to him, "Are you so bored from running around as the Hokage's errand boy and hiding from your squad that you'll stoop as low as to bother me?"

He looked at her, deep, dark, beautiful eyes. "Yes."

"That's unfortunate," she said, turning her back on him. "A long time ago, I might have taken your bullshit. But not now. Now, I know just what an emotionally-depraved asshole you are."

Ino actually had somewhere to go. She wasn't walking away just for dramatic effect... Or because she needed to find a corner to cry in because Sasuke's words hit really, really close to home.

Ino was a medical ninja.

And she had patients to attend to.

"You're late," a crotchety old man said. He was a frail little stick of a guy, sitting up in bed, glaring at her.

"Did I hold you up? Were you planning on going somewhere?" She asked sarcastically. She knew it was better not to tiptoe around this guy. He didn't take kindly to niceness.

"I'm not going to wait forever," he growled. "I've got to die sometime soon. If only your stupid machines weren't working so damn well."

"Shut up, Atsushi," his plump wife said, sitting next to him. She was there every day, right by his bed.

Ino was slightly concerned that the old woman was waiting for her husband to die; or something morbid and along those lines. But the protective and stern way that she stared at any of the other doctor's that came in to check up on him told otherwise.

She liked Ino.

She trusted Ino.

And the only reason she did that was because her husband trusted Ino.

"You shut up," he told her. "Don't you have better things to do than to sit around and watch me die?"

"Actually no," she said, quite promptly. "All of the kids are off on some mission, and the grandkids are at school."

"What are you waiting for?" The old man snapped, glaring at Ino with his two beady eyes. "Get started on my check up. I don't want this to interfere with lunch."

Ino laughed silently, shaking her head.

"How's that pansy you've been getting it on with recently?" He asked, grouchily, midway through the check up.

Ino laughed out loud as the old woman gasped. "Atsushi!"

"What?" He frowned, "It's what all the young people are saying these days."

The old woman blinked, and then turned to Ino. "You better not be 'getting it on' with that young man anyways. I don't like him. He's a spoilt apple, through and through."

"Oh, you two are being too harsh," Ino said. "He's sweet."

"Hmph!" the old man said. "Akio, tell this girlie that thing you told our daughter when she was with that dumb kid."

"Sweetness will go rotten," she said wisely. "But cynicism is already rotten and it will keep on rotting."

"Is that supposed to be encouraging me to break it off with my boyfriend, or not?" Ino said, grinning. "Because I'm confused."

"One day," Akio said, shaking her head. "One day you'll see through his superficial sweetness, and to the cynicism."

The door opened and a small voice said, "Ojii-san? Obaa-san?"

All sarcasm disappeared like magic off of the old couple's faces as their granddaughter walked hesitantly into the room. They became the perfect grandparents.

"Hello, Kazumi," the old woman said, smiling warmly. "It's kind of you to visit your Ojii-san and I."

"Can you hold on a second?" The young girl asked after a customary round of hugs. "I want you to meet my team. We're here on a mission and I wanted to visit you."

She looked at Ino. "Is that okay if I bring them in?"

Ino nodded, "Of course."

As soon as Kazumi left the room, both of the grandparents sighed. Atsushi shook his tiny, bald head, "I would easily give the world for that girl."

"I can't imagine someone who wouldn't," Akio agreed.

Kazumi returned shortly, followed by two wild-looking boys and a tall, handsome, dark, annoying, cynical man.

Ino repressed her disgust, at the same time that Akio attempted to disguise her interest in Uchiha Sasuke's presence. The old woman started chortling to herself. "Oh my."

Ino walked out of the room promptly, glad she'd finished the physical check-up. She called behind her, "I'll be back with your lunch at 12:30, sir."

Ino shook her head. She was really starting to hate the Uchiha bastard. It was a good thing that she left as quickly as she had, because Akio and Atsushi would never forgive her if she used the word 'bastard' in front of their darling Kazumi.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell?" Naruto shook his head, blinking as he walked into the hospital.

"What?" Ino asked in her don't-fuck-with-me voice. She certainly wasn't in the mood for blonde idiots, especially after what had happened that morning.

He groaned, slapping his forehead. "I thought we were done with the chopping our hair off stage."

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked. She stopped herself from self-consciously brushing her fingers over the jagged tips of her collar-bone length hair.

"When Sakura cut her hair, you cut yours like two days later," Naruto said pathetically. "And since you've cut your hair, I don't want Sakura to go and cut hers off too."

"Why do you care so much?" Ino asked, frowning.

"I like long hair better than short hair." Naruto whispered.

"That's nice," Ino said, frowning. She was seriously confused. "Now what are you doing here?"

"I brought Sakura flowers." He said, shrugging. "Y'know, to surprise her. Do you know where she is?"

"No idea," Ino shrugged. "But I have to get going now." She suddenly felt much worse. "Patients to see."

Of course Naruto would get Sakura flowers. He's been in love with the girl since they were in the academy together. It wasn't even a special occasion, he was just bringing her flowers because he wanted to _surprise her._

Ino was muttering to herself by the time that she entered Atsushi's and Akio's room.

"Are you making it a habit of being late?"

Ino looked up from her feet to see that the room was far from empty, and all six of the room's occupants were staring at her.

Ino put on her best, bravest smile and said, "I'm sorry, I got held up talking to one of my friends."

"Oh, Ino!" Akio gasped, running up to her husband's doctor. "What happened to your lovely hair?"

"I cut it," Ino said shortly, trying to perform Atsushi's check-up and attempting to avoid making eye contact with a certain Uchiha.

"Girls are all cutting their hair these days," Atsushi grumbled loudly, "It's a shame. A woman used to show her beauty through her hair."

Beauty. Frankly, Ino didn't give a shit- pardon her language- about beauty that morning. She'd woken up with her head feeling like a million pounds. Cutting off her hair seemed to have alleviated some of the burden weight down on her.

"What do you think of it, Sasuke-san?" Akio asked.

Ino froze, hunched over Atsushi. If that damned bastard said _one_ _thing_ about her stupid, stupid haircut, he was going to be in a world of pain. She glared at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"I think its fine."

"Pft!" Atsushi made a discouraging noise. "That's no real answer. Especially for a woman," he nodded conspiringly.

Akio huffed, "Can you believe him?" But she too looked expectantly at the Uchiha for an answer.

"It's practical," he said, finally, sounding a little faint.

"See?" Akio gestured towards Sasuke. "Do you really want to be practical, rather than beautiful?"

"I'm a ninja," Ino pointed out. "Not a model."

"Well said," Atsushi applauded loudly, bony hands making hollow noises. "But still, you should've kept your hair long. It was pretty."

Ino didn't really care about looking pretty, yet. When her boyfriend came home from his mission, she'd start caring. But she would be busy procrastinating about that for the day before he was supposed to return to Konoha.

"Ino!"

Ino turned around to look at whoever was loudly calling her. Oh. It was no one important.

She turned back around and tried to pretend that she hadn't seen him. She really didn't want to have to deal with any more of him ever again.

"Ino. Stop."

She did stop. She was a little shocked that he'd caught up with her so quickly. I mean, one second he was at the other end of the hallway and the next he was right behind her.

Kind of creepy.

"What do you want, Sasuke?"

"I don't know, it'd be nice just to talk," he said.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" She was challenging him, he better give the right answer or she was going to blow him off for the rest of the day.

"Because, frankly, there's no one else to talk to," he said. "And that Akio woman, Kazumi's grandmother, was hitting on me back there."

"You wouldn't know if a woman was hitting on you unless someone told you that she was," Ino told him harshly.

"Actually, a lot has changed since I avoided you and Sakura like you two had a plague," he said.

"Really? I bet you haven't even been on one date," Ino snapped.

"Well, it started out as a date," he said hopefully.

"And what did it end as?" She asked, giving him a dirty look. "A funeral?"

"No, a one night stand."

"A one night _w-what?"_ Ino choked.

"One night stand." Sasuke didn't look at all ashamed.

"With who?" She asked. "I mean, who would be stupid enough to sleep with _you?"_

"You know the secretary downstairs, right?"

"You slept with _Tenshi?"_ Ino asked in a loud whisper.

"No," Sasuke rolled his eyes, as if the notion was ridiculous. "I slept with her sisters."

"Sister_s?"_

"Well, they were twins, and they said it was a two-for-the-price-of-one-deal."

"Like that makes it any better," Ino said. "You disgust me, Uchiha."

"You say that like you haven't slept with what's-his-face."

Ino spluttered for a few minutes.

"Exactly."

She stopped, and glared at him. "You're a bastard."

"That's some pretty naughty language, Ino. I wouldn't want your boss to catch you saying that."

"Speaking of bosses," she said, "I have to get back to work. Leave me alone, Uchiha, and maybe I won't get fired."

"That would be preferable," he agreed, turning his back on her once again. "If you weren't here, then who would I pick on?"

Unfortunately, he sort of had a point.

I mean, everyone else just seemed to take his bullshit. Ino actually fought back and denied him bullshitting rights. It didn't really stop him from talking- which was the goal- but it challenged him.

"Ino! Stop daydreaming and pay attention!" Shizune snapped. "Pretty boy is still going to be around when it's time for you to check out."

"Actually, _pretty boy_ has out on a mission all week," she said. "I'm not going to be able to see him until next Saturday."

Shizune looked incredibly confused for a few seconds. However, fortunately, her face cleared up and understanding dawned on her expression. "Oh, you're talking about that loser that you're dating."

"Yeah, of course I was." Ino paused and then asked, "Who are you talking about?"

Shizune turned around, pretending to ignore Ino.

"Shizune?" Ino said, "Who were you talking about?"

Inside, Ino already knew the answer, that didn't mean she had to admit it out loud, though. Outside, she could maintain her wonderful reputation as Konoha's only Sasuke-Hater. Inside, she could admit to herself that he was, in fact, a pretty boy.

Ino's suspicions had been correct. Shizune admitted, "I was talking about Sasuke-kun."

"Ew. Gross."

Shizune looked at her. "Real mature Ino."

But Ino didn't need to be mature, or pretty.

She just needed to be Ino.


	3. INTERMISSION!

Okay, so something is going seriously wrong with my account. And so chapter 2 and 3 are the exact same, even when chapter 3 is actually very different from chapter 2.

So... um, if this makes any sense, then yay. But if it doesn't, then sorry about that. I'm not very good at explaining myself.

So, without further ado, I now dub this INTERMISSION.


	4. Chapter 3

"What the hell?" Naruto shook his head, blinking as he walked into the hospital.

"What?" Ino asked in her don't-fuck-with-me voice. She certainly wasn't in the mood for blonde idiots, especially after what had happened that morning.

He groaned, slapping his forehead. "I thought we were done with the chopping our hair off stage."

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked. She stopped herself from self-consciously brushing her fingers over the jagged tips of her collar-bone length hair.

"When Sakura cut her hair, you cut yours like two days later," Naruto said pathetically. "And since you've cut your hair, I don't want Sakura to go and cut hers off too."

"Why do you care so much?" Ino asked, frowning.

"I like long hair better than short hair." Naruto whispered.

"That's nice," Ino said, frowning. She was seriously confused. "Now what are you doing here?"

"I brought Sakura flowers." He said, shrugging. "Y'know, to surprise her. Do you know where she is?"

"No idea," Ino shrugged. "But I have to get going now." She suddenly felt much worse. "Patients to see."

Of course Naruto would get Sakura flowers. He's been in love with the girl since they were in the academy together. It wasn't even a special occasion, he was just bringing her flowers because he wanted to _surprise her._

Ino was muttering to herself by the time that she entered Atsushi's and Akio's room.

"Are you making it a habit of being late?"

Ino looked up from her feet to see that the room was far from empty, and all six of the room's occupants were staring at her.

Ino put on her best, bravest smile and said, "I'm sorry, I got held up talking to one of my friends."

"Oh, Ino!" Akio gasped, running up to her husband's doctor. "What happened to your lovely hair?"

"I cut it," Ino said shortly, trying to perform Atsushi's check-up and attempting to avoid making eye contact with a certain Uchiha.

"Girls are all cutting their hair these days," Atsushi grumbled loudly, "It's a shame. A woman used to show her beauty through her hair."

Beauty. Frankly, Ino didn't give a shit- pardon her language- about beauty that morning. She'd woken up with her head feeling like a million pounds. Cutting off her hair seemed to have alleviated some of the burden weight down on her.

"What do you think of it, Sasuke-san?" Akio asked.

Ino froze, hunched over Atsushi. If that damned bastard said _one_ _thing_ about her stupid, stupid haircut, he was going to be in a world of pain. She glared at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"I think its fine."

"Pft!" Atsushi made a discouraging noise. "That's no real answer. Especially for a woman," he nodded conspiringly.

Akio huffed, "Can you believe him?" But she too looked expectantly at the Uchiha for an answer.

"It's practical," he said, finally, sounding a little faint.

"See?" Akio gestured towards Sasuke. "Do you really want to be practical, rather than beautiful?"

"I'm a ninja," Ino pointed out. "Not a model."

"Well said," Atsushi applauded loudly, bony hands making hollow noises. "But still, you should've kept your hair long. It was pretty."

Ino didn't really care about looking pretty, yet. When her boyfriend came home from his mission, she'd start caring. But she would be busy procrastinating about that for the day before he was supposed to return to Konoha.

"Ino!"

Ino turned around to look at whoever was loudly calling her. Oh. It was no one important.

She turned back around and tried to pretend that she hadn't seen him. She really didn't want to have to deal with any more of him ever again.

"Ino. Stop."

She did stop. She was a little shocked that he'd caught up with her so quickly. I mean, one second he was at the other end of the hallway and the next he was right behind her.

Kind of creepy.

"What do you want, Sasuke?"

"I don't know, it'd be nice just to talk," he said.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" She was challenging him, he better give the right answer or she was going to blow him off for the rest of the day.

"Because, frankly, there's no one else to talk to," he said. "And that Akio woman, Kazumi's grandmother, was hitting on me back there."

"You wouldn't know if a woman was hitting on you unless someone told you that she was," Ino told him harshly.

"Actually, a lot has changed since I avoided you and Sakura like you two had a plague," he said.

"Really? I bet you haven't even been on one date," Ino snapped.

"Well, it started out as a date," he said hopefully.

"And what did it end as?" She asked, giving him a dirty look. "A funeral?"

"No, a one night stand."

"A one night _w-what?"_ Ino choked.

"One night stand." Sasuke didn't look at all ashamed.

"With who?" She asked. "I mean, who would be stupid enough to sleep with _you?"_

"You know the secretary downstairs, right?"

"You slept with _Tenshi?"_ Ino asked in a loud whisper.

"No," Sasuke rolled his eyes, as if the notion was ridiculous. "I slept with her sisters."

"Sister_s?"_

"Well, they were twins, and they said it was a two-for-the-price-of-one-deal."

"Like that makes it any better," Ino said. "You disgust me, Uchiha."

"You say that like you haven't slept with what's-his-face."

Ino spluttered for a few minutes.

"Exactly."

She stopped, and glared at him. "You're a bastard."

"That's some pretty naughty language, Ino. I wouldn't want your boss to catch you saying that."

"Speaking of bosses," she said, "I have to get back to work. Leave me alone, Uchiha, and maybe I won't get fired."

"That would be preferable," he agreed, turning his back on her once again. "If you weren't here, then who would I pick on?"

Unfortunately, he sort of had a point.

I mean, everyone else just seemed to take his bullshit. Ino actually fought back and denied him bullshitting rights. It didn't really stop him from talking- which was the goal- but it challenged him.

"Ino! Stop daydreaming and pay attention!" Shizune snapped. "Pretty boy is still going to be around when it's time for you to check out."

"Actually, _pretty boy_ has out on a mission all week," she said. "I'm not going to be able to see him until next Saturday."

Shizune looked incredibly confused for a few seconds. However, fortunately, her face cleared up and understanding dawned on her expression. "Oh, you're talking about that loser that you're dating."

"Yeah, of course I was." Ino paused and then asked, "Who are you talking about?"

Shizune turned around, pretending to ignore Ino.

"Shizune?" Ino said, "Who were you talking about?"

Inside, Ino already knew the answer, that didn't mean she had to admit it out loud, though. Outside, she could maintain her wonderful reputation as Konoha's only Sasuke-Hater. Inside, she could admit to herself that he was, in fact, a pretty boy.

Ino's suspicions had been correct. Shizune admitted, "I was talking about Sasuke-kun."

"Ew. Gross."

Shizune looked at her. "Real mature Ino."

But Ino didn't need to be mature, or pretty.

She just needed to be Ino.


	5. Chapter 4

"Ino!"

Ino turned to face the voice. Frowning, she recognized who the deep octaves belonged to. She turned back to run away.

"Now that wasn't very nice." Uchiha Sasuke grabbed onto her arm, "I was only going to ask you for a small favor."

"I don't want to help," Ino said, wishing that she'd chosen to run another route. "I have my own rights and therefore I do not have to help you."

"Well, you're going to help, whether you like it or not," Sasuke firmly started to drag her towards a secluded clump of woods. He frowned at her, picking her off the ground using only one arm. "Do you eat?"

"Of course I eat," she spat, squirming in his grip. "I probably just don't eat as much as you fat ass."

A sharp intake of breath made Ino look up. "Don't cuss in front of the _kids."_

Ino gulped. "Kids?"

"We aren't kids," a short boy with a spray of freckles across his face said, sounding defiant. "We're ninja."

She looked at Sasuke. "Gennin, huh?"

He nodded.

"How'd you know that?" the boy asked.

"You have what we call the Gennin Complex," Ino explained. "It's where you think you're a lot cooler than you really are."

"You know what?" he said, stepping up to Ino. "I bet you're just a whole bunch of talk and no action!"

Ino quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

Sasuke spoke up, "You do realize that you're picking a fight with a twelve year-old, right?"

"I'm not picking the fight, he is," Ino gave Sasuke a dirty look. "And you need to shut up until I'm done kicking your student's ass."

"Sasuke-sensei?" Kazumi asked. "Are you sure this is okay? Will Katsuo be okay?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I'm sure she won't hurt him too badly." He'd originally planned on having Ino work with Kazumi on growing a backbone- the girl was just too darn sweet- but he hadn't really expected her to pick a fight with Katsuo.

The fight ended almost as quickly as it was initiated. Ino stood over Katsuo, she wasn't even sweating.

She crouched down next to him. "Listen up here, Shortie. While it's true that the best defense is a good offense, that only works in situations where you are either better than or equal to your opponent. When your opponent's offense is significantly superior to yours, you'll wish that you had a strong defense."

He watched her with slightly narrowed eyes.

"So," she said, "The best thing you can do is have a strong offense that is easy to change into a defense."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, looking frustrated.

"An amphibious offense," Sasuke spoke up.

They both looked at him.

"It's where the offense and the defense are interchangeable," he explained, staring at Katsuo.

"That sounds cool," Kazumi admitted.

"How was I supposed to know she was strong, sensei?" he asked, still looking angry. "She's a medic. She isn't supposed to be able to fight."

"Never underestimate your opponent," Ino said.

"Now," she said straightening up. "I am going to leave. Because today is my day off, and I do not want to spend my day off doing someone else's job." She looked pointedly at Sasuke.

"I never asked you to fight my student," Sasuke pointed out. "You did that all by yourself."

He was right.

"Well, anyways, say hi to Atsushi and Akio for me, okay, Kazumi?"

Katsuo looked from Ino, and then turned to Sasuke. "She's pretty."

"You just lost to a girl, and all you can say is 'she's pretty?'" Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the child.

"Well she is."

Sasuke almost laughed at the simple childish ignorance. Or naivety, whichever word worked perfectly fine for this situation. Katsuo was exhibiting vast quantities of ignorance and naivety.

For, as Sasuke knew very well, women were evil.

This wasn't a theory of his, it was a fact. And that fact was later proven after he'd innocently stopped by the hospital.

"There are two hundred and twenty-one ways I can kill you with this pen if you don't have a good reason for bothering me." Ino looked up grumpily from the stack of papers in front of her.

He frowned at the papers, they were clearly hospital forms. "Who brings paperwork to a restaurant?"

"This doesn't qualify as a restaurant," Ino informed him.

Looking around, he could tell that she had a point. The food joint was open air, and was littered with people who didn't really care what everyone else would think about them. The food was cheap, easy too make, and incredibly unhealthy.

He looked at whatever had the misfortune of wandering into the kitchen, had been fried, and then ended up on Ino's dinner plate. "What _is_ that?"

"Well, I _ordered_ some sort of soup, and I got this," she raised the dish up to eyelevel. "But it looks like it's a lot of mystery meat and hardly any soup."

"Sounds good to me," he shrugged, leaning across the table and grabbing a bite.

"What?" Ino shrieked. "What do you think you're doing? That's my dinner! _My_ dinner! Why the hell would you just eat my food? Where were you raised, a dog kennel? Your manners are disgusting, you damned Uchiha pig! I am absolutely shocked that you would just reach across and grab my-"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you want it back?"

Ino paused, and said nothing.

Sasuke nodded. "That's what I thought."

"How do you even know that's safe to eat?" She asked, after a long silence. "I can't even identify what kind of meat it is."

"Tastes like chicken," he said helpfully. By then, he'd pulled the bowl closer to him and started eating it like he'd ordered it himself. "And anyways, I like to live life on the edge."

"So risking possible food poisoning and diarrhea is living life on the edge nowadays?"

"I'd like to see you try and eat this stuff."

"Well I _would_, but you happen to be eating all of it." Ino didn't exactly look happy. She shook her head and sighed, "What are you even doing here, Sasuke? I thought I've made it clear that I do not like you."

"I need you to do something for me. A favor."

"I already did a favor for you," she said, "Remember when I fought that brat, Katsuo? It happened, I don't know, like a few hours ago."

"That didn't really count," Sasuke said in a matter-of-fact voice. "You started a fight with a twelve-year-old. It's all your fault."

"Oh well, that was my single good deed for this week," Ino said, "I guess you're going to have to wait till next week for your favor."

"You can either come with me peacefully, or I could knock you out and drag you over to where I need you to be," Sasuke threatened.

"If you knocked me out, who would pay the bill?" Ino asked.

"You would," he said, shrugging. "I'd just use your money."

"You wouldn't be able to find my wallet." Ino said, smirking, "And if you did find it, you wouldn't have the guts to grab it." She patted her chest, where, in fact, her wallet happened to rest. It may seem gross to some people, hiding a wallet in your shirt. But for Ino, it was practical.

"I have strip-searched a ninety year-old woman," Sasuke said. "I will have no qualms or any hesitations about grabbing a wallet out of an eighteen year-old girl's shirt."

"That's gross," Ino blanched.

"I never said that I enjoyed it."

"What if I run away?" Ino asked.

"Then I'll chase after you."

"Who says you're fast enough to catch me?"

"Common sense," Sasuke almost smiled. "I was faster than you when we went to the academy, so I should be faster than you are now."

Ino grimaced, "Your logic is flawless."


	6. Chapter 5

Ino looked at Sasuke, "I am almost one-hundred percent sure that you are stalking me."

The Uchiha glanced at her. "If you'll allow me to speak, I'd like to point out that I was training here before you ran over and interrupted me."

She put her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah, and it wasn't like you threatened to chop off the rest of my hair if I didn't come over, either."

"Your hair's short as is, it wouldn't have made that much of a difference."

Ino frowned. "Bastard."

"Okay, you've called me a bastard twelve times in the past day and a half. Switch it up a little. Call me something new."

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms. "Whore."

"I am not a whore," he said.

"What was that you were telling me the other day about those Hyuggas?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because if you were saying what I thought you were saying, then I have every right to call you a whore."

"Well, it wasn't like I made them pay me after we were done."

"Fine then," Ino smiled. "You're a slut."

"We sluts would much rather you called us sexually indiscriminate," Sasuke said primly. "You may also call us promiscuous, or sexy."

He looked over at Ino. "Are you dying?"

Ino had fallen to her knees and was holding her sides as her whole body shook up and down. Laughter made tears dribble out of her eyes as she continued to chortle. "S-sexually indiscriminate!"

With a certain amount of interest, Sasuke watched as her face got all red. Finally, after five minutes of her laughing, he said. "It wasn't that funny, you know."

"That's what _you_ think," she said, standing up, wiping her tears away. "But I probably should point out that about a year after you left to join Orochimaru, I decided that you were going to die a virgin."

"You thought about my sex life?" He asked, looking mildly concerned.

"I also thought about you dying," she said. "My thinking about you dying would generally bother people more than my thinking about your sex life. Which," she said, smiling a little, "Just goes to show how slutty- Oh! I mean _sexually indiscriminate_ you are."

"Well, a lot of people have thought about killing me," Sasuke said, shrugging. "Almost no one thinks about my sex life."

She blinked, suddenly sobered. He, almost, sounded sad.

"I didn't think about killing you," she said.

"Then who did you think would kill me?"

"Naruto."

Sasuke smirked a little, "Naruto?"

"Yeah," Ino played with the end of her shirt. He was staring at her, it was pretty intense. And she was uncomfortable. "He's the only one I can think of who deserves to kill you."

"That's a pleasant thought," Sasuke said. "Seeing as I'm fairly confident that Naruto won't kill me."

"If you messed with the right person he would." Ino said. "Like Sakura. If you messed with Sakura, then he would definitely kill you. Or, he'd at least maim you to the point where you would never be able to move again."

"So if I ever want to die, I ought to threaten Sakura," Sasuke nodded, as if he was mentally taking notes. "Okay. Got it."

"Don't even talk about things like that." The words were out of Ino's mouth before she could stop them.

"What? Do you care about me?" The teasing smirk on Sasuke's face was too cute, too handsome, too sexy, too promising, too much.

"No," she recovered quickly. "But if Naruto hesitates too long in killing you, his conscience will catch up with him and he'll only hurt you really bad. And then _I'll_ probably have to be the one to nurse you back to health."

"Do you want to get some dinner?"

"What?" Ino looked at him. "That was random."

"I thought it'd be nice if I at least gave you a chance to agree to go to dinner with me before I forced you to come."

She smirked. "Now that's more like the Uchiha I know so well."

"You don't know me that well."

"You know," she ignored his comment. "I used to have a will."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, taking off towards the village.

"Well, you'll do what you did just now," she said. "You'll ask me to help you or to have dinner with you, or something, and I'll say no. And then you'll just drag me along anyways, whether I want to or not."

"So have you finally decided to stop fighting back?" He asked.

"No." She sighed. "You see, I have this weird thing where I like making things harder for myself than necessary."

"Yeah like dating Loser Face," Sasuke said.

"Call him something else, geez," Ino rolled her eyes. "You've called him Loser Face like twenty times."

"I'm sorry, that's just what he is."

"Well call him something else," Ino ordered.

Lucky.

Sasuke thought about the word, thought about the chance he'd be taking saying that Ino's boyfriend was lucky.

And he came up with a different word.

"Pansy."

"That sucks," she said, laughing a little.

"Well, he sucks." Sasuke retorted. "So it's perfect."

She shook her head. "Honestly, that one's so bad that you might as well just call him Loser Face."

"Thank you," Sasuke said. "I'm glad that you realized that was the superior insult for a dumb ass like your boyfriend." He looked shrewdly at her, "You don't have very good taste."

"Yeah and screwing the Haruno triplets _is_ good taste?"

"Well, the fact that I was able to get all three of them in one weekend was impressive enough on its own." He said, smirking fondly about some X-Rated memory. "Who knew that Sakura's cousins were so wild?"

"That's disgusting," Ino informed him.

"We've already been over this," Sasuke said. "You've slept with Loser Face. You can't discriminate on my sex life after enduring a clearly traumatizing experience like that. You are, however, welcome to be jealous of my scandalous sex life."

"Why would I be jealous?" she asked. "Sex is supposed to be something meaningful, not just some mindless fuck with someone who you hardly know."

"So is Loser Face important enough for you to have sex with?"

Ino looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Ino.

It took her a long time to reply.

"I don't know," she finally said. "We might get married someday."

"You'd be really stupid if you married him," Sasuke informed her bluntly.

"Well thanks for the encouragement," Ino drawled sarcastically.

"It took you thirty-seven seconds to figure out how important he was to you," Sasuke said. "If someone was really important to you, you'd know right off the bat. You'd know if you would die for them, if you would honestly consider spending the rest of your life with them."

"I didn't know you were that deep," she said. "Do you have someone who's that important to you?"

"A few."

"Like?"

"Well, the obvious."

"So Naruto and Sakura?"

"Yeah, and one more."

"Who?"

He smirked, looking away. "She's nobody."

_She's?_

"Who is she?"

Sasuke shook his head, "Nobody."

Ino didn't speak the rest of their walk into town. Sasuke had to choose the restaurant they were going to eat at by himself because of how unresponsive she was. She looked like she was deep in thought, but with Ino, you never knew.

"Are you going to talk?"

She looked up at him, startled at his presence. "What?"

"You haven't said anything for fifteen minutes," Sasuke said, sighing.

"No, it hasn't been that long."

"Yes it has."

"How would you know?"

"Because, no matter how annoying you are when you talk, you're even more annoying when you don't talk."

"So I should talk more?" Ino asked.

"I believe that's what I'm saying," Sasuke replied.

"What if you aren't listening?"

"Trust me," he scoffed, "I'll be listening."

"I guess I'll trust you," Ino said. "Just this one time."


	7. Chapter 6

Sasuke looked at the figure to his right, and almost smirked. Ino stood next to him. She didn't look particularly happy, but she wasn't cussing him out like she tended to.

Finally, his persistence from the past two weeks had paid off, and she was no longer resisting his presence. He didn't really know- or care- why he was trying to get her to tolerate him.

"Kin is coming back today." She said, looking at her halfway empty ramen bowl. Her hand subconsciously reached up and brushed the still-jagged ends of her newly cut hair.

"Who?"

"My boyfriend," she replied.

"Oh, Loser-Face," Sasuke nodded.

"That's not his name." She said, annoyance rising up in her belly. "And don't you dare call him any of those stupid things you call him in front of his face."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Sasuke asked, lazily looking at her from across his cup of tea. His good mood was fading fast.

"I'm going to kick your ass, for one," she said. She tapped her chin, "But I think you deserve an ass-kicking whether or not you make fun of my boyfriend."

"Like you could get anywhere near my ass."

"I'm pretty close to it right now."

He checked the location of his butt, and then compared it to where Ino was. Okay, so the park bench was a little small. But her butt wasn't that close to his.

She laughed at him.

Good mood is back in business.

He fake-frowned at her, "Ha. Ha. You're so funny."

"Don't deny it," she said, still giggling to herself. "You know I am."

He shook his head. "You've lost every right you had to call me immature."

"I've never called you immature, Sasuke."

"But you've thought about it."

"What are you, a mind reader?" She asked, grabbing his tea and taking a long slurp of it. "Oh wait, that's _my_ job."

"No." He said.

"No?" She asked.

"No." he repeated. "You are not a mind _reader_. You are a mind _possessor. _But that's it."

It would be really unfortunate and embarrassing if she could read his mind. He'd probably never be able to face her again.

Ino chortled. "Oh. Well aren't _you_ Mr. Vocabulary."

"Your juvenile tomfoolery has a negative effect on my psyche," Sasuke said. "I will now formally request you to desist in your antics."

She nodded. "That was pretty impressive."

"Pretty impressive?" he scoffed. "I broke three syllables."

"Okay, on the subject of pretty big words," Ino grinned. "Ostentatious."

"That's nothing," he said, shaking his head. "Longevity."

"Alturistic."

"Egocentric."

She smirked. "Epididymitis."

"What's that?" He asked, pointedly giving her his 'you're crazy' look.

"It's a testicular disease," she said, barely containing her giggles. "It's where part of the epidermis connecting the testicles to another part of your... man area becomes inflamed."

He froze.

For, like, a full five seconds, Uchiha Sasuke was a statue.

"I don't like the word inflamed," he said quietly. "I especially don't like it in the same sentence as testicles."

"It's not that bad," Ino said. "Your balls only get a little swollen, that's all."

She added after another long pause. "It's really fun making you feel uncomfortable."

"I bet I can make you uncomfortable," he said.

"Is that a challenge?" She asked.

_What's the worst he could do?_

"If you'll take it as a challenge." He looked at her, his mind running through all of the things he could do to her to make her crack.

"Then I take it as a challenge," she said, folding her legs, and turning so that she could look at him. "Do your worst, Uchiha."

Sasuke didn't move for a long time.

And when he did, he was deliberate.

He turned to face her. One arm hung on the back of the bench. The other hand rested lightly in his lap, awfully close to her knee. His breathing slowed.

"All you have to do," he whispered. "Is ask me to stop."

She swallowed, "Dream on, pretty boy."

The hand that wasn't close to her knee snatched a piece of her hair. He pulled his face close to hers. "You've got something in her hair."

She narrowed her eyes at him. It was unnerving how he stared straight at her. "Why don't you get it out then?"

Her voice sounded unnaturally loud.

"I might," he breathed.

Slowly, gently, carefully, he pried whatever twig may have been stuck in her hair out and tickled her nose with it.

She made a face.

His mouth opened.

He leaned closer.

Her heart wouldn't stop.

He breathed. His breath kissed her cheeks.

_Calm down,_ she thought. _Calm down._

His eyes slipped down to her lips.

"All you have to do," he whispered, now he was so close that when he spoke, his lips brushed her cheek. "Is ask me-"

His nose touched hers.

"-to stop."

Ino didn't want to stop.

I-I mean, she did. Of course she did.

"Stop, Sasuke," she said, her voice coming out stronger than she'd thought it would. "I have a boyfriend, remember?"

He leaned back, a full smirk on his face. "It's all a part of the game, Ino."

He frowned at her, she was looking at him.

"What?" she asked, he was looking at her funny.

"Normally you'd call me a sadist, or something," he said.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I said that almost kissing you was just a game," he said, looking genuinely confused. "Normally you'd become a feminist and start calling me an asshole."

"You're honest about it," she said. "And from my experience, that's pretty much the most I can ask for."

"That's kind of sad," he said.

She nodded. "I know. But it's a fact of life. And it's something that I can't change."


	8. Chapter 7

Ino sat at the front gates of Konoha. She was all by herself, waiting for her boyfriend to show up. Sasuke had been waiting with her, but he said that he left because he couldn't handle her 'girlish romanticisms.'

What a wuss.

Kin at least had the balls to man it out whenever she got particularly girly. Sasuke, however, had no problem running like a puppy with his tail tucked between his legs.

She scanned the dimming horizon. Patience had never been one of her strong qualities.

Eventually, Kin did arrive. But, by the time that he did, the sun had long disappeared behind the horizon and Ino was beginning to wonder fruitlessly how she was going to be able to work the next day. Staying awake in the hospital was hard enough, even after getting a full eight hours of sleep. The next day was going to be rough.

She smiled at him, and gave him a hug, followed by a quick, meaningless peck on the lips. There was no emotion in the kiss. "Hey," she said. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he replied.

She looked in his eyes. They were a pretty melted caramel color. But despite the warmth that such a color should have conveyed, his eyes felt cold.

"You cut your hair," he said, pulling away from her.

"Yeah," she smiled, "I wanted to try something new."

"It looks great," he said.

"Thanks."

Their conversation died.

No. It didn't just die.

Their conversation was burning in the deepest, darkest depths of hell, in too much agony to actually attempt to resurrect itself.

Instead of what should have been a meaningful conversation about how much they had to catch up on about each other, awkward was born. And that awkward silence was extraordinary.

"H-How did the mission go?" Ino asked, fumbling desperately for some sense of comfort and confidence.

Usually, talking was her strong point.

"It was good," he nodded. "I mean, uh, nobody got hurt or anything. And I guess that's the best we can ask for, right?"

"Definitely."

Silence.

"Well, I, uh, have to get to bed," she said. "You know, got a lot of work to do tomorrow morning."

"Yeah." He said, not looking at her.

"Good-bye?"

He smiled a little. "Bye."

He just dropped her hand and left.

Ino didn't cry when she got home. She wanted to, and she felt like crying. But she didn't.

She wouldn't let herself cry.

Then again, she didn't really know why she wanted to cry.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks, Prince Charming." Ino snapped. She snatched one of the two cups of tea (natural caffeine) out of his hand. "I assume that one of these is for me."

"Chivalry is so underappreciated these days." Sasuke muttered, shaking his head.

She looked at him, having already downed half of the scalding liquid, she had to let her throat cool down for a few seconds before replying. "Chivalry my ass."

"So you don't call it chivalry when I go out of my way to grab you an extra cup of tea because I knew that you would've had a late night?"

"No, chivalry is when you buy a girl flowers or you hold the door open for her when she walks into a room or a building." Ino informed him. "And, anyways, you told me that I looked like shit."

"Would you rather have me lie?"

She looked at him, he was looking at her. She smiled a little. "No. I guess I would rather have you tell me the truth."

"That's what I thought," he said, pushing her out of the way of a rapidly moving cart. "Now stop complaining."

"Don't you tell me what to do," Ino grumbled, allowing him to guide her through a tiny bit of pressure on the small of her back.

"Who's stopping me?"

"Normally, I would be," she admitted. "But you're right, I am pretty tired from last night." She glared at him, "And no. Kin and I didn't 'get it on.'"

"I never said that you did," the Uchiha had his tell-tale 'I'm-smiling-but-I-shouldn't-be' grin. It wasn't a very big smile, but it was still a smile. And, honestly, that was enough for Ino.

"But I could tell," she said. "I read minds, remember?"

"No, you possess minds, Ino. We've already been over this."

Ino yawned, "I'm going to die today."

"That would be unfortunate."

She gave him a look like _what?_

"What I'm saying is that we have that dinner with Sakura tonight, and she'd be pissed off if you missed it." He said, with another one of his 'I'm-a-naughty-boy-who-got-caught-with-my-hands-in-the-cookie-jar' smiles. "She hates cancelled reservations."

"Gee." Ino frowned. "Thanks for caring."

"You're welcome," he said. "Now, contrary to popular belief, I am not your babysitter, and I can't walk you all of the way to the hospital. So, let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope you don't get lost."

She glared at him. "Jerk."

Ino fell into an easy rhythmic gait as she strolled towards the hospital. She was happy with not having to talk to anyone for awhile. It was easier than scrounging up for things to talk about, which was what she was going to have to do with Kin.

She was jumped that day.

The instant that she walked into the hospital, Sakura came out of nowhere and pinned Ino against a wall.

"Did you break up with him?" she asked, breathlessly.

"Break up with Kin?" Ino frowned, her heart hammering against her ribcage.

"I don't care what the hell his name is," Sakura hissed. "Did you break up with him?"

"Um... No?"

Sakura stepped back a few paces and _glared_ at Ino. "You and I," she said, "We need to talk about your standards for men, they are far too low."

"Oh come on," Ino said, rolling her eyes as she walked towards Atsushi's room. "He's not as bad as everyone says he is."

"Good morning Ino," Atsushi grumbled sarcastically. "It appears that you're on time for once."

"Sorry," she apologized, matching his sarcasm. "My hangover didn't last as long as it usually does."

"Attitude," Akio said. "Is not a good quality for a young lady."

"You haven't complained before," Ino said, smiling at the old woman.

Akio smiled back.

"So," Atsushi said. "When am I going to die?"

"Well," Ino glanced at the clock on the wall. "In approximately two and a half seconds."

They all waited.

One Alligator...

Two Alligator...

Three A-

"Oh well," Ino said, shrugging. "Just goes to show how good of a doctor I am."

"You know," Akio said. "You're in an awfully good mood today." She had this shrewd tilt to her eyes.

"My boyfriend came back from his mission," Ino said, "That's probably what it is."

Akio and Atsushi exchanged a glance. Their expressions were sour.

"Oh." Atsushi said.

"I don't like him," Akio said.

"You've already mentioned that," Ino said, smiling.

"Well, I don't," the old woman persisted. "And I think you should seriously consider 'getting it on' with someone else. Someone who's tall, mysterious, brave, strong, and maybe has a bit of a dark side."

Ino stared at Akio.

"You aren't saying that I should date Sasuke, are you?"

"She didn't say it," Atsushi spoke up. "You were the one who suggested that idea."

"Although I do like the sound of it," Akio added.

"He's a lot better than the idiot she's dating now," Atsushi grumbled in agreement.

Ino shook her head and smiled, "I'm sorry you two, it looks like you've both gone senile. Anyways," she checked a box on her clip board, "I'm done with my check-up, I'll be seeing you both later this afternoon to give Atsushi another round of shots."

The hospital felt unusually empty.

Ino yawned and leaned against a table, despite the tea that Sasuke had brought her, she was still exhausted from having waited up all night for Kin. Her head nodded all morning as she moved in a zombie-like stupor through all of her chores.

"Finally," she murmured. "Lunch."

She walked down to the hospital lobby, looking for the tall, dark-haired Uchiha who had become accustomed to stopping by the hospital to pick her up before they left for lunch.

She found him.

Flirting with a nurse.

She came up next to him, "You ready to go, slut?"

Ino gave the girl a hard stare until she mumbled an excuse and scampered off. Then, she turned and smiled brightly at Sasuke.

"What was that for?" Sasuke asked. He didn't sound mad or frustrated, just amused.

"Even you can do better than that," Ino teased.

It was really sunny outside.

Ino smiled, this really was a good day for her.

Then she noticed someone, walking towards them.

Her smile fell a little.

"Ino?" Kin said. "I was just looking for you?"

Boy did he look confused.


	9. Chapter 8

"You must be Sasuke," Kin said, extending his hand.

Sasuke said nothing, but he shook Kin's hand.

"So," Ino spoke up, her voice much higher pitched than usual. "You were saying that you were looking for me?"

"Yes," Kin said. "I was- well, I _thought_ we could have lunch together." He looked pointedly at Sasuke.

If the Uchiha were any other person, they would have insisted on Ino going to lunch with Kin, and that he could eat with someone else, somewhere else. But, this was Uchiha Sasuke. So he just stood there with this expression that clearly said 'Ino, if you cancel on me, you're going to be in a world of pain.'

"W-well- I- what- the thing is-"

"It's okay," Kin said, smiling, and putting an arm on Ino's elbow. "We can just have dinner tonight."

"I've already got plans," Ino admitted.

"With who?" Kin's voice grew a little chilly.

"Um, Sakura, and Naruto, and Sasuke."

Kin didn't hesitate to give Sasuke a dirty look. However, Sasuke- being Sasuke- was already glaring at him.

"B-but you can come," Ino said. "I'm sure Sakura and Naruto won't mind."

"I mind," Sasuke said.

"You don't count," Ino said, giving him a quirky look.

"That's great," Kin said.

Kin smirked a little, and kissed Ino.

It was their first _real_ kiss.

I mean, they've kissed before.

But never like this.

Never.

"Bye," he whispered.

"B-bye," she whispered back.

Kin walked away.

Sasuke frowned at her. "You sound like an idiot."

She touched her lips. "Shut up. I'm too awestruck to be bothered by your petty petulance."

Sasuke smirked. "Petty petulance. Well, isn't that funny."

"What's so funny about it?" Ino asked.

"It just sounds funny." He sighed.

Their walk to the take-out rice balls shop was a lot quieter than it usually was between them. It was a lot quieter of a walk to the park too.

Even before they'd started spending so much time together, they'd always managed to keep silence from seeping into the atmosphere. Even though, that was usually because they were too busy insulting each other to let silence even have a chance at reigning supreme.

Ino didn't like it.

She liked talking to Sasuke, she'd admit it.

"What are you thinking about?" She finally asked, after she couldn't stand it anymore. By then, they were already seated in the sunny, warm grass at the park.

Sasuke said with no hesitation. "You looked really shocked when he kissed you like that."

"Yeah, so?"

"I just think it's strange, that's all."

He smirked, "And Loser Face thinks that you're cheating on him with me."

"Okay, you've been introduced already, can you start calling him by his real name at least?"

"No." Sasuke was firm. "Loser Face is a more apt name for him."

"Well," Ino said, stretching in the sun. "Tonight should be interesting. You and Naruto and Sakura being on the same squad and all, I guess that Kin and I will be the outcasts."

It wasn't that way at all.

Sakura couldn't not let Kin sit next to Ino, but she _could_ interrupt him every time he tried to talk. Naruto kept frowning at Kin, occasionally he'd would mouth something to Ino like _Why are you dating him? _And _He's an idiot._ Sasuke and Ino were unable to stop arguing.

Even if, for them, arguing meant that they were merely conversing, the rest of the table started to get caught up in the 'fight.'

"You did _what_ with my cousins, Uchiha?" Sakura snapped.

Ino smirked and Sasuke shook his head. "Real mature."

Naruto nodded, "I'm impressed."

Sakura punched him. "I can't control Sasuke," she muttered, "But I sure as hell can control you!" She grabbed his shirt, "Do not encourage him!"

"Fine," Naruto sighed.

Sasuke coughed, "Whipped."

Ino stifled her laughter as Sakura started to berate Sasuke for his apparent 'immaturity' and 'incongruity' and how he is 'incredibly adept at encouraging Naruto to do stupid things.'

"Now," Sakura said primly, "I have to use the bathroom. By the time I come back, you all better be behaved."

"I have been behaved," Kin said.

Sasuke and Sakura both glared at him.

After Sakura had disappeared, Sasuke sighed, leaning back in his chair, "Way to stick up for me, Ino."

"What was I supposed to do?" She asked.

"You're Sakuras best friend," Naruto said, suddenly looking tired, "If anyone can stop her from ranting, it's got to be you."

Ino scoffed, "No one- and I mean _no one_- can stop Sakura from ranting. You just have to let the rant run its course."

Kin chuckled, "Rants don't have a course."

Sasuke looked at him like he was an idiot. "You're an idiot."

When Sakura came back, everyone was well-behaved. In fact, they were so well-behaved that no one would speak at each other.

No one would look to each other either.


	10. Chapter 9

"I knew you two secretly had the hots for each other," Naruto said confidently, as he came across Ino and Sasuke while taking a walk with Sakura.

Ino didn't remove her glare from Sasuke. "Shut up, Uzumaki."

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

"Of course you couldn't have," Ino replied, smirking.

"Ino, under normal circumstances I would encourage you to be at least a foot away from Sasuke, seeing as you have a boyfriend, but I don't like your boyfriend," Sakura paused, "So get as close to Sasuke as you want."

Ino's eyebrow twitched. "Is that reverse psychology?"

"I don't think it is," Sasuke said. "I don't like Loser Face either. And if I had a friend who was with someone like him, I would encourage them to cheat."

"So I'm not your friend?" Ino asked, smirking.

It was easy to forget that Naruto and Sakura were even there.

"Correct."

"Then what am I?"

"Just a person who occupies most of my life," he said.

"That's the definition of a friend, dumb ass."

"So what are you two even doing?" Naruto asked. "Besides flirting, I mean."

"We are not flirting," Ino called, "We are engaged in mortal combat."

"Um, the words 'mortal combat' usually insinuate that someone is going to die," Sakura pointed out. "I don't know about you guys, but not very many people die from staring into each other's eyes."

"You've obviously never fought against a Sharingan-user." Sasuke said.

"And this is a mortal combat," Ino said. "Whoever loses has to pay for dinner tonight."

"Loses what?" Naruto asked, his voice rising as he walked over to the pair. "What are you even doing?"

"It's a staring contest, idiot," Sasuke said.

"I thought I was the only one you called an idiot," Ino said.

"I hardly ever actually insult you, I just imply things," Sasuke said, smirking a little, "There's a big difference."

"Pfft!" Ino scoffed. "Whatever."

"So, you guys are just going to stare at each other forever?" Naruto asked, sounding crestfallen. These 'staring contests' did not seem particularly violent.

"Until one of us blinks," Ino said. "And there's no cheap moves like-"

"-blowing in someone's eyes," Sasuke said pointedly.

"Or clapping in front of their face, to make them flinch-"

"-attempting to possess their mind so that one can force the opponent to blink-"

"-or using any type of Sharingan on an opponent so that they feel like they have to compulsively blink for five minutes," Ino said, hiding a small smirk.

"If you can't tell," Sasuke said, "This is our fifth attempt at a fair fight."

"This isn't a fight," Naruto pouted.

"That's what you think," Ino said. "But these things are actually really intense."

"So intense that you have to stand four inches apart from each other?" Sakura asked, grinning. "Or is that just for fun?"

"This isn't for fun, Sakura," Sasuke said. "This is serious."

"And the best way to win," Ino said, "Is through intimidation, so you have to get up in your opponent's face."

"Because we all know how intimidating and scary Ino looks when she's up close to you," Sasuke said. "I mean, the warts are nearly driving me to the brink of blinking."

Ino smirked, undaunted. "Whatever helps me win."

Sakura shook her head, "This will only end in tears." She turned to her boyfriend, "Do you want to keep going on our walk then?"

"No way," Naruto said. "I'm curious now. I want to see Sasuke win."

"Prepare to be disappointed Uzumaki," Ino shouted. "There's no way I'm backing down from this thing. I've been trained by the best."

"Trained? How can you train at a staring contest?"

Ino smirked. "Shikamaru. One time, when we were having a staring contest, he fell asleep with his eyes open. And I _still_ won."

"That's not good for you," Sakura said. "And it's probably physically impossible."

"Hello, Sasuke is a Sharingan addict," Naruto was not about to let his bet go undefended. "That guy hardly ever shuts his eyes when he's fighting. And these are in _real_ fights, where there's all these things flying around to distract you and fly at your face and make you flinch."

"Whatever you say, Naruto," Ino smirked. "But I've got this one in the bag."

"That's what you think," Sasuke smirked.

In the end, Sasuke ended up winning.

Ino stumbled away from their battlefield, stiff and rubbing her red eyes. "God," she muttered, glaring at him, "Aren't you supposed to let the girl win?"

"No way," he said, blinking his eyes a few times. "That would affect my masculinity."

"Masculinity my ass," Ino laughed. "You're about as masculine as Sakura's hair is."

"Then every girl in the village must really want to sleep with Sakura's hair," Sasuke said. "As awkward as that sounds..."

"Not every girl in the village," Ino pointed out. "Sakura and I don't want to sleep with you _or_ Sakura's hair."

"You keep on telling yourself that."

"You know, they're talking about me like I'm not even here," Sakura murmured to Naruto.

"It's weird," Naruto agreed. "And now they're walking away from us without saying goodbye."

The unlikely pair stalked off, too caught up in their quibbling to remember that there were two other people in the clearing. Naruto and Sakura looked at their retreating backs for a few seconds.

Naruto turned to Sakura, smirking. "That gets rid of them."

"It's not like we actually tried to get rid of them," Sakura said frankly, "They sort of just left on their own."

"That doesn't matter," Naruto grinned, "The point is that we're alone."

At that moment, Ino and Sasuke had just finished ordering ramen.

"I don't want ramen."

"Hey," Ino frowned at him. "If I'm paying then I should get to choose where we eat."

"We had ramen yesterday," Sasuke pointed out.

"I had to pay yesterday too," Ino said, grinning. "And this just so happens to be the cheapest restaurant in town that actually has halfway decent food."

"You're cheap."

"And you have ridiculously expensive tastes," Ino said. "But you don't see me complaining, do you?"

"Actually you do complain," he said, "All the time."

"Shut up." She said.

"And then there's that," Sasuke said, smirking.

"And then there's what?" Ino asked.

"You're always bossing me around," he said. "It makes me feel insecure."

Ino laughed. "Yeah right. Like you, the cockiest bastard in the village, could ever feel remotely insecure."

Sasuke just smirked and didn't bother defending himself.

He liked it when she laughed.


	11. Chapter 10

"It's not fair," Ino complained, flopping down next to him.

"What isn't fair?" Sasuke asked, with a pained sigh.

"I spend more time with you than I do with Sakura," she said.

"And why isn't that fair? As far as I know, there are many girls who would much rather spend more time with me than with Sakura."

She looked shrewdly at him, "You always have to bring sex into the conversation don't you?"

He smirked, "I wasn't talking about sex."

She gave him a look.

"No. Seriously. Some girls are happy with just looking at me."

Ino laughed, "You sound like a stripper."

He blinked, "Explain."

"A slut, which we've already agreed is what you are, is the one that you can touch, and feel, and screw." She said, her smile growing as the profanity spilled past her lips. "However, a stripper is the one that you're only allowed to look at and _wish _that you could touch, and feel, and screw."

"So you're the stripper, and I'm the slut?"

Ino cocked an eyebrow, "Are you saying that I'm sexy?"

"Apparently Loser Face thinks so," Sasuke said, leaning back and looking at his squad as they weeded some old lady's garden. "But I think he was dropped on his head as a child."

"He has a name you know."

"He does, but I, frankly, don't care enough to put in the effort to remember his name."

"Whore."

"Ino, we've already been over this," Sasuke said gently. "I don't charge girls to sleep with me."

Ino laughed.

"I'd have never thought that you had a sense of humor, Uchiha," she said.

"Honestly, I wasn't sure that I did either." He looked at her, smirked a little and shrugged, "I don't know, I guess you bring out the worst in me."

"The worst?" She asked. "I bring out the best in you, bastard."

"You haven't called me a bastard in a long time," Sasuke pointed out. "I almost missed it."

"I never cuss around anyone else but you," Ino confided. She laughed at the expression on his face, "What can I say? You bring out the worst in me."

"The worst?" he scoffed. "I bring out the best in you, Ino."

Ino kind of, sort of agreed with him.

But she wasn't going to tell anyone that.

She stretched and yawned. Sitting out in the sun always made her sleepy.

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Sasuke asked.

She shook her head, "No. I stayed up all night getting reservations for my date with Kin, which is tonight."

"You two are going on a date? That's nauseating."

"You need to keep your opinion out of my love life," Ino laughed, shaking her head, "You never have anything nice to say."

"That's because there's nothing nice to say about Loser Face," Sasuke peeked open one of his dark eyes at her. "Don't even try and tell me that I'm lying, because you know I'm not."

"There are plenty of nice things to say about Los- Kin," Ino snapped.

Sasuke sat up from where he'd been laying down. Complete joy was etched onto his handsome face. "You almost called him Loser Face didn't you?"

"No. I didn't."

"You definitely did."

"I definitely did _not."_

"Ino."

"Yes?" She tried to sound annoyed.

"Don't lie to me," he said. "But, these nice things that you can say about Loser Face, tell them to me. I bet you can't get more than ten positive qualities."

"I can," she said, "But some of it's embarrassing."

"Embarrassing? How?" He laid back down.

"It's... Nothing." Ino was glad that his eyes were shut so that he couldn't see her blushing.

"You're blushing." He said.

"What? How could you tell?"

"I just can," Sasuke's lips smirked. "But now you have to tell me this positive quality that Loser Face has."

Ino drew herself up to her full height from a seated position. "Well, if you must know he has a large..." she looked around, and then whispered, "penis."

"How large?"

"It's big, okay? That's all you need to know, Uchiha."

"I bet mine's bigger."

Ino looked at him, and said, "You would bet something like that."

Sasuke shrugged, unconcerned, "I can't help it, it's the truth."

"No one ever says the truth these days," she said. "They're always lying."

"I don't lie to you," Sasuke said. "In fact, you're always getting mad at me when I do tell you the truth."

"Do you call telling me how horrible Kin is for me the truth?"

"I didn't say it, you did."

"Who do you think would be good for me?" She asked. "Because Kin is practically everything I could hope for in a man. He's smart, he's strong, he's reliable, he's got a good job, and he likes kids."

"_I_ despise children." Sasuke said with a small amount of pride in his voice.

"Oh yes," Ino laughed, rolling her eyes. "I saw exactly how much you despised Kazumi after she broke her leg, and you tore apart half of the hospital trying to find me to fix it."

"That kid is too damned likeable," Sasuke said. "I swear, she's almost as bad as Naruto."

"See, you fit at least one criteria on my checklist for a suitable mate," Ino said in a mock-encouragement voice. "Way to go, Uchiha!"

"Your tone offends me," Sasuke informed her. "And I don't want to be a part of any list that involves Loser Face. Anyways, at least half of the guys in Konoha fit that checklist."

"So you can just _find_ a random guy who is strong and brave and kind and a family guy and able to take care of me without being a sexist?" Ino folded her arms. "Please, Uchiha, I've spent my whole life in this village. And I've been looking at men, as opposed to you, who- hopefully- is only looking for women."

"I can." Sasuke said. "Easily. But that doesn't mean that this guy will be the right one for you."

"What does the 'right guy' have that Kin doesn't?"

"He would be able to hold a conversation with you," Sasuke said.

"Are you looking for a woman you can talk with?" Ino asked.

"No," he said. "At this rate, with my reputation as being a deserter, the most I can hope for is a woman who will attempt to understand me and my reasons for the things that I've done."

"I understand," Ino said.

"Yeah," he looked at her, and smiled, ruefully. "But you're already taken, remember?"


	12. Chapter 11

"You're going to talk to Kin?" Ino asked, looking apprehensive. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," Sasuke said. "I'm going to talk to him."

"Just talk?"

"Yes."

"No violence?"

"No violence. Just talking."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No."

"Then why are you sharpening your katana?"

Sasuke looked up at Ino. "No reason. See you later."

It didn't take very long for Sasuke to find Kin. It didn't take very long for him to convince "Loser Face" to fight him. It didn't take very long for Sasuke to reduce Kin's self-esteem into mere shreds floating through the air.

"W-Why aren't you in the ANBU?" Kin gasped, attempting to suck air back into his lungs.

One well-placed kick to the solar plexus and the guy was flopping on the ground like a fish out of water? Sasuke frowned, this guy would never be strong enough to protect Ino.

"The Hokage doesn't trust me."

The weak man managed to sit up. "Why not?"

"I'm a traitor."

"You don't have very good conversation skills, do you?" Kin said, frowning, "I'm trying to get us talking here, and you keep giving me the bare minimum in responses."

"I don't talk to people I don't like."

"So you admit it then, you like Ino."

Kin looked victorious.

"Yes."

"How much do you like her?"

"Probably more than I should."

Kin stood up, "You need to stay away from her."

Sasuke resisted the urge to kick him in the solar plexus again. Instead, he said, "You shouldn't tell me what to do."

"You don't know what's good for her!" Kin shouted.

"And you don't even know her." Sasuke said, a challenging tone to his voice. "Which one is better: not knowing what's good for Ino, or not knowing Ino at all?"

"I know her," he spat. "I've been dating her for six months."

"Four months."

"What?"

"You've been dating her for four months, dumb ass, not six." Sasuke didn't know he could be so disgusted with one human being.

Kin faltered. "W-Well, I still know her!"

"What's her favorite flower?"

"Why should that matter?" Kin snapped.

"Her family owns a flower shop, she's been around flowers for her entire life," Sasuke said, voice calm. "And being as pathetic of an excuse of a human being as you happen to be, you are going to screw up. How are you supposed to win back her graces if you don't even know what her favorite flower is?"

"I won't make mistakes."

"You already have, asshole." Sasuke said. "All I'm doing is waiting for you to make the mistake that pushes her over the edge."

"Who says she'll take you?"

"She probably won't." Sasuke pretended to not let that news affect him. "But at least I'll be able to make sure that she doesn't end up settling for someone like you."

"Someone like me? Wouldn't it be better for her to end up with someone like me rather than someone like you?" Kin was desperate.

"I think I'm going to let Ino decide that," Sasuke said. He frowned. "It isn't my job to have my way, it's my job to be there."

"Be there for who?" Kin shot, "Your wounded ego when she rejects you?"

"No," Sasuke took a deep breath. "I get to be there for Ino."

"Just make sure," Sasuke said, finally. "That you make the right choice when you go on that date with her tonight. And, for once, don't only think about yourself."

"Kin," Ino said randomly, when they were sitting together, in the restaurant. "What would you do if I ran away?"

"I would chase after you," he said, after thinking awhile.

"How long?" She asked.

He shrugged, "Probably for two weeks or so."

Ino frowned. That was romantic.

"Why do you ask?" He asked, grabbing her hand.

"Oh," she gave him a tight smile and grabbed his hand. "No reason."

Clearing her throat she asked, "You ready to order?"

Kin looked at Ino, and his and Sasuke's words rang through his ears.

_How much do you like her?_

_Probably more than I should._

Ino caught him staring and smiled, "What is it?"

_You don't even know her._

He smiled back and shook his head, "Nothing. It's nothing."

_I think I'm going to let Ino decide._

"I heard you and Sasuke had a talk," she said, smiling a little mischievously. "Please tell me that he wasn't a jerk."

_I get to be there for Ino._

"He wasn't," Kin said. "We talked."

He looked at the woman in front of him.

He liked her. He really did.

"Just talked?" She raised her eyebrows.

He could feel her slipping through his hands. She was going to get away from him. He was losing her.

"Just talked," he confirmed, looking away.


	13. Chapter 12

Ino blinked.

One second she was sitting in her dining room, going over her bills- after a particularly miserable date- and the next Kin was standing right in front of her, staring through her soul.

She frowned. "Hello?"

"Ino," he said, "We have to talk."

Those words were never good.

"Then let's talk," she said.

"We aren't working out."

"What do you mean?"

He wasn't making any sense.

"You know how I talked to Uchiha Sasuke today," he said, frowning. "And you and I shouldn't be together anymore."

"What are you trying to say?" Ino asked, horror only just beginning to settle in. "You're going to dump me because of _Sasuke?"_

The bastard had really crossed the line now. He was going to pay for whatever he had told Kin. And she would make sure he died a very slow and very painful death, at her hands. Oh he was going to wish that he'd never even heard of Ino.

"I like you a lot better when you're around him."

"That bast-" Ino stopped. "Wait. What?"

"When you're around him, you act more alive," Kin said. "You're funnier and you're easier to talk to. And you stand up for yourself around him."

"You're dumping me because you like me better when I'm with him...?" She shook her head, "It doesn't make any sense."

"You're right," he said. "It doesn't make sense, but it doesn't need to."

"Yes it does!" She screamed, rising to her feet, pushing her little kitchen table aside. "It fucking matters because this is my fucking life you're messing with!"

"I didn't know you swore," he said, looking at her oddly.

"I do," she muttered. "All the time. But I shouldn't use the F-Bomb. It makes me sound stupid." She smiled a little.

"You're thinking about _him_ aren't you?"

"Thinking about who?"

"That Uchiha bastard!" In a fit of almost manly passion, Kin grabbed her by her arms and shook her. "Every time you smile these days it's because of something he said to you, or something he did to you."

"Let go of me," Ino said, narrowing her eyes. "If you don't, I swear, I'm going to castrate you."

"Do you see?" He said, letting go of her with a small push that sent her stumbling. "Don't you see? The Ino I started dating didn't use words like castrate or fuck or bullshit or dumb ass. The Ino I dated was a respectable medical ninja."

"Then you didn't know Ino."

"I completely agree with you. And you know what else?" He said, "I don't think I _want_ to know Ino."

"If you don't want to know the real me, then why are you dating me?"

"I don't know." He looked lost.

"You know where the door is," she said.

"I do." He turned around.

"I defended you," she said. "All my friends, and all of the people I knew didn't like you. But I defended you in front of them. I stood up for you in front of Naruto, in front of Sakura, and in front of Sasuke."

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Then you just wasted your breath, Ino."

He glared at her, "Tell that Uchiha asshole that he and his stupid clan can all rot in hell."

"Hey Sakura," Ino said conversationally.

"... Hi Ino," Sakura looked hesitant.

"How's it going?" The blonde asked, smiling.

"Well, um, I just finished stitching up your boyfriend," Sakura said slowly.

"_Ex_," Ino said.

"What?"

"Ex-boyfriend."

Sakura smiled, "So I can assume that these bloody gashes are courtesy of you?"

"Yeah," Ino smiled fondly. "It's a good thing that Sasuke gave me that katana."

"Sasuke gave you a katana?" Sakura repeated.

"No. I took it."

"Was there a reason that you attacked your ex-boyfriend?" Sakura asked, because, well, she had to. As a friend, she was obliged to support but question the motives of their break up. But as a prominent member of the Anti-Loser Face fan club, it brought her secret pleasure that her friend was no longer flirting with the dark side.

"Yes," she said. She looked away. "He crossed the line."

"The line?" Sakura said. "What line?"

"The line he shouldn't have crossed."

"Would you care to specify?"

"He insulted someone who's very important to me," Ino said impassively. "And I wasn't going to let that go."


	14. Chapter 13

"I hate you."

"For some reason I'm not surprised that you would find a way to blame your break up with Loser Face on me," Sasuke sighed. He stared off at the unusually heavy clouds for a moment and then shrugged. "Well, at least you aren't dating him anymore."

"Your name came up." Ino growled, picking up a kunai and throwing it at a tree. It wasn't her kunai. It was Sasuke's. But that didn't really matter, seeing as she wasn't destroying it or anything. She picked up another one. "In fact, you were the reason that he left me."

"Now I'm curious," he said. "Why was I the reason that he left you? Did I make him jealous to a point that he cannot stand? Because, frankly-" he looked over at her, "That's pretty pathetic. And it sounds like he's making up excuses."

Ino picked up another kunai that wasn't hers, and threw it. However, in a counterattack Sasuke threw a kunai of his own. It hit against the one Ino had thrown, and sent it flying harmlessly into the dirt.

"Perfect aim," he mused. "As usual."

"You're so fucking full of yourself, it's ridiculous." Ino huffed, slumping down onto the ground.

"One, don't use the F-word, it makes you sound stupid." Sasuke ambled over to her and sat down too. "Two, nearly ninety percent of our conversations are about you and Loser Face."

"No," she argued. "Ninety percent of our conversations are about you and your numerous sexual escapades."

"It's okay," he said. "I understand, you're just in denial about how self-absorbed you are. I would be too, if I were as stuck-up as you."

"I'm not in denial!" Ino spluttered.

"Sounds pretty in denial to me," Sasuke said, shrugging again. "But, you never told me, what was it about me that made Dumb Ass break up with you?"

"Oh, so I can't use the F-Bomb, but you'll say dumb ass?" Ino looked at him, finding him to be much closer than she'd originally anticipated.

"Are you going to answer my question, or instigate an argument?"

Ino paused, "Fine then. He said that he likes me better when I'm... hanging around you."

"How?" Sasuke scoffed. "All we ever do is argue?"

"Tell me about it," Ino sighed. "In fact, that was one of the things he said. He said that when I was around you, I stand up for myself more."

"You stand up for yourself around everyone but him." Sasuke pointed out, "It's really unfortunate, actually."

"What's unfortunate about having a backbone?" Ino hissed.

"You'd be a lot easier to get along with if you just gave into everything I said," he seemed to be more thinking out loud to himself than actually talking to her. "But then again, if you did that, you'd be no better than a stupid little servant who obeys my every whim."

She rolled her eyes, and stood up, "Well, despite the fact that I'm single, people don't stop getting hurt, meaning that I will have to get back to work. Who knows, maybe I'll run into a cute guy who'd just suffered an attack from some rogue ninjas."

"Do you know what I think is funny?" Sasuke called out, after she'd walked a distance away.

She turned around to face him, he was still sitting down, looking after her. "Let's see, what would _you_ think was funny? Something that is a negative quality about me, something stupid that I've done... What is it, Uchiha?"

"You've been dating that shit for four months," he said. "And now that he's dumped you, you aren't crying." He cracked a small smile, "Four months wasted, if you ask me."

"I'm a ninja, Sasuke," she said. "We don't cry."

"Yeah," he nodded, still looking straight at her. "That, or you just never cared."

She sneered. "You think you're so smart."

"I'll admit, about some things I am."

"And you think that you're smart about me?" She asked, praying that he'd lie.

But no such luck.

"Yeah," he said. "Sometime, I feel like I can see right through your act."

"My act?" She repeated. "I have an act?"

He nodded. "And I don't know why, but I can see through your façade."

She turned back around, "I need to get to the hospital."

She started walking away. One step after another.

"Ino."

She turned around, quickly. "Yeah?"

He looked lazily over at her. "I think you should stop wasting your time."

She smiled a little, "Are you saying that I should find someone who's worth it?"

"No," he said. "I'm saying that you should find someone who's worth _you."_

Suddenly, Ino found something else to say. Something that needed to be said, or, rather, asked.

"Sasuke?"

"What?"

"If I ran away," she asked him, "What would you do?"

"I'd chase after you." He responded. There was no hesitation, no thought process needed, thank you very much. It was just instinct for him.

"For how long?" Ino asked.

"For however long it took to get you back," Sasuke replied.

Again, it felt like he didn't need to think. He could just say the first thing on his mind.

And for some reason, the first thing on his mind was the right answer.

"Ino?"

"Yeah?" She turned so that she could look at him as he looked up at the sky.

"If I ran away, what would you do?"

"I'd celebrate."

He turned his head at her. "Be serious."

Her grin faded a little. "I think that I wouldn't think for awhile. And I'd find myself chasing after you, wondering why the hell I was even trying."

He made a face, and looked back at the stars. "That's not encouraging."

"You've left before, Sasuke," she said. "You only came back when you wanted to. I figure, if you ran away again, that I'd just wait for you to come back."

"How long would you wait?" He asked.

"I would wait till the stars fell down out of the sky and knocked some sense into me." She was smiling again.

He didn't need to look, but he did anyways.

He liked it when she smiled.


End file.
